Pages

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

So, remember when I posted about building a washer/dryer stand here a while back? Well, I just realized I never posted about it after we got it in the house. Good news is IT FIT, and I LOVE IT! Maybe it helps that I now have a washer and dryer that actually work. Just maybe :)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

I was racking my brain trying to come up with what to get my parents for Christmas this year.

Gift card?

Na.

Pictures of Izzy?

Too predictable (since I do that for everything for them).

For my mom:

﻿

Izzy was desperate to get in the photo :)

﻿

I had made some pillows for myself a while back that my mom had taken a liking to so I thought I'd make something similar for her. I bought a 4x5 piece of painters drop cloth from Lowes, less than $5.00, and had more than enough for both pillows. Before sewing them together I used leftover paint from around the house to paint over my penciled in sketches, which I printed off from the computer to use as a guide. Once everything was dry I sewed them up and stuffed them. $2.99 for a bag of stuffing at Hobby Lobby. I made them reversible - one side for everyday use and the other for Christmas. More bang for your buck that way ;) So, total for custom pillows - $7.99!

For my dad:

I've been eyeing some of the subway art that I've been seeing all over design sites lately. My dad has a favorite quote from his grandmother and I thought that would make a neat piece of art. So, I bought a precut piece of wood from Lowes on clearance for $12.99. Used leftover black paint for the base coat. To create the quote I used Microsoft Publisher and created a page the same dimension as my piece of wood. I typed in the quote and then messed around with font sizes until I came up with something I liked and printed it off. I used this technique to get an outline of the letters onto my piece of wood and pained it in with a white paint marker from Hobby Lobby for $2.99. Looked good, but thought it needed a little something extra. After the quote was dry I took a piece of sandpaper and roughed up the whole thing, even going over the words, and went to town on distressing the edges. On the edges where the wood was showing I rubbed in some leftover dark stain with a paper towel so the wood didn't look so new. Then gave the whole thing a coat of satin poly. Once again, it was leftover :)

Total for custom art - $15.98!

Even though this was the least amount of money I've spent on Christmas gifts for my parents, I think they're my most favorite gifts for them so far.

Proof that it's not in how much you spend, but the thought that counts!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I've had most of the house decorated since the day after Thanksgiving. I'm practically itching to get my tree up as soon as dinner is over with. I like getting to rediscover the decorations I got on sale after Christmas the year before. Sort of like a pre-Christmas present :)

﻿﻿﻿

(BTW, if you look in the reflection of the fireplace you can totally see all of Izzy's toys laying out. Ha!)

﻿

But, today was the day I finally decided to get my rear in gear and decorate our dining room.

﻿﻿

(Ruffino patiently waiting on Dad to come home)

﻿﻿

I'm pretty much in love with the wreaths on the back of the head chairs.

I froze my rear off cutting down branches from my backyard evergreens to make them, but I think it was worth it since it was free! Free, free, oh I do love free!!! I tied some bunches together with floral wire, stuck some little silver do-dads in (I'm sure there's a better name for them), and wrapped them around the chair backs with the upholstery seat webbing stuff (again, I have no idea what these things are really called). Silver do-dads were $1 on sale at Michaels and the webbing was $.99/yd at Hobby Lobby. Holla!

I used more of the evergreen clippings on top of the china cabinet and mixed in some plastic ornaments I got from Lowes (forever ago) that I've never used. The letters for the NOEL were either $1 or $2 a piece from Hobby Lobby and got a coat of glue and glitter. Ubber cheap!

Anywho, there it is. Christmas decor on the cheap!

Well lovely. I totally forgot to take pictures of the stairway. Oh well, I'm pooped.

Now that I'm pooped I think I'll head out to the garage to finish Izzy's play kitchen. Great idea huh? Which has turned out to be a MUCH bigger project than I thought I was going to be. But then again, isn't everything?! Hopefully all goes well and it will be done tonight. Fingers crossed!

Monday, December 20, 2010

So we have some VERY big news here at the Westerman house. Nope, not pregnant. Izzy wore her first pigtails last night!!! Yea!!!!!! She looks like such a grown up little girl :)

Now maybe we won't have to hear "what a cute little boy" anymore. I mean seriously, how many little boys do you know wearing pink from head to toe?! Come on people!!!! Sorry, I'm a little touchy about this, but it drives me nuts!